"Die Schachtel in collaboration with O artspace proudly presents a deluxe DVD featuring six experimental films by New York-based composer, photographer and filmmaker Phill Niblock from the late-1960s. Anybody familiar with Niblock would probably characterize his work by the sound of his long, sonorous drones, producing rich overtones usually combined with a visual element -- since before moving into composition, Niblock was an active photographer and filmmaker. While he usually is known for his films from the Movement Of People Working series alongside performances of his music, Niblocks early works stand apart as unique objects. The integrity and consistency of his style is fully on display in these seldomly-seen or screened 16mm sound films wonders that include: Morning (1966-1969) from an idea by Phill Niblock and Jean Claude Van Itallie, filmed by PN, text by Lee Worley and Michael Corner, with members of the Open Theater group. Starring Lee Worley, James Barbosa, Cynthis Harris, Sharon Gans, Joseph Chaikin; text read by Lee Worley, James Barbosa, Barbara Porte, Dorothy Lyman, Michael Corner. Black & white 16mm film. The Magic Sun (1966-1968) with members of the Sun Ra Arkestra, music by Sun Ra and the Arkestra. Filmed on high-contrast black & white 16mm film. Dog Track (1969) -- a film by Phill Niblock, with a found text read by Barbara Porte. Color 16mm film. Annie (1968) -- a portrait of the dancer Ann Danoff, with a sound collage soundtrack. Color 16mm film. Max (1966-19) -- an image collage film/portrait of percussionist/sound-artist Max Neuhaus, with a collage soundtrack by Max Neuhaus. Black & white 16mm film. Raoul (1968-1969) -- a portrait of the painter Raoul Middleman, with extensive use of time-lapse film technique. The soundtrack is improvised by Raoul Middleman and Phill Niblock. Color 16mm film. Limited edition of 500 copies. NTSC, all-region DVD, stereo, 4:3 format. Run-time: 65 minutes." -Die Schachtel

New version (with slightly revised visuals, same video and audio content) of this classic Niblock DVD release, originally from 2003. Double-sided DVD; Total time: 3 hours, 28 min. Features 6 short movies (25 to 70 minutes each), plus separate 5.1 DVD-Audio tracks. "This DVD collects a number of Niblocks documentary films analyzing the dynamics of motion involved in manual labor. The images on the disc are all accompanied by Niblocks own minimalist approach to soundtracking. Niblock started making these films back in 1973, upon visiting Mexico and Peru. It was here that he set out on his observation of the impersonal machinations of work. These films concentrate specifically on the work of human hands, both in terms of crafts, like weaving, and on the more industrial scale of farming, as is focused on by the films shot in Hungary, made in 1985 (the most recent work here). In this Hungarian sequence a man reaps in a field using an old-fashioned scythe: the workers rhythmic torsional movements are beautifully mirrored by Niblocks droning woodwind, as the composer continually renews his breath and restarts on the same pitch, replicating the visual cycle of unbroken repetition. Later on, we see a close-up of a woman milking a cow. Again, a rhythmic structure is established in both visual and auditory terms. Its pretty bewitching stuff considering how simple the component elements are. In addition to the conceptual success of the piece - which finds Niblock evoking a powerful sense of existential non-movement - he amply shows off his chops both as a filmmaker and a composer. The films here were produced on beautiful Kodachrome print stock, while the music is utterly timeless, the kind of infinite-chord drone work that only the very best artists in the genre can come up with. Magnificent." -Extreme. NTSC format, multi-zone format. 5.1 audio.

"PHILL NIBLOCK has pushed the boundaries of sound and visual art for over 40 years. While dutifully producing experimental films and curating multi-media loft performances in New Yorks 1960s avant-garde circles, Niblock developed a composition technique informed by American minimalists such as Tony Conrad and La Monte Young. His music consists of long instrumental tones, closely pitched together to create beat patterns and multi-tracked into dense layers. Nothin to Look At Just a Record, originally released on esteemed 20th century / jazz label India Navigation in 1982, is Niblocks recording debut and often cited as his masterpiece. "A Trombone Piece," the first of two side-long tracks, was recorded by RICHARD LAINHART and RICHARD KELLY (both music innovators in their own right) at SUNY Albany in the mid-70s. Breathing pauses from instrumentalist JAMES FULKERSONs trombone were spliced out to unravel the drones spatially, rather than according to metered rhythm. The overall effect is mesmerizing and beautifully envelops the listener with each tonal subtlety. To celebrate Niblocks 80th birthday, Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time vinyl reissue of Nothin to Look At Just a Record, a high-water mark in 20th century music and listed as #5 on Alan Lichts Minimal Top Ten." - Superior Viaduct.

"This is Phill Niblocks third release on the Touch label. Phill Niblock is a New York-based minimalist composer and multi-media musician and director of Experimental Intermedia, a foundation born in the flames of 1968s barricade hopping. He has been a maverick presence on the fringes of the avant garde ever since. In the history books Niblock is the forgotten Minimalist. His influence has had more impact on younger composers such as Susan Stenger, Lois V. Vierk, David First, and Glenn Branca." - Touch.

1990 release. “”Phill Niblocks music has no precedents, invites no comparisons, and doesnt even suggest any metaphors to me. It is simply itself and must be heard to be believed,” wrote Tom Johnson in The Village Voice a decade ago. The same is true today--no one is doing what Phill Niblock is doing. Niblock takes the building blocks of music and stacks them in inimitable formations. In Four Full Flutes, adjacent tones beat violently against one another while clouds of harmonics hover above the wavering drone... When the piece ends, it takes the listener a few moments to recover. This physiological experience, when the ossicles slow their vibrating and the membrane hairs come to a standstill, is probably the only aspect of the music not regulated by the score... Playing this compact disc in a different room or moving around the room while the disc is being played actually alters the outcome. Similarly, the music can be experienced anew through different combinations, extra speakers, home stereo pyrotechnics, and volume level alterations. The effects intensify with louder levels of volume. The higher the volume goes, the higher you go" --Neil Strauss. "The aural effect is minimal to the max, but it isnt simplistic. The tones vibrate and glow, the densely packed texture shifting hues like a sonic aurora borealis" --John Rockwell, The New York Times. "The four pieces on this 80-minute CD are for multiple tracks of alto flutes, flutes, flutes and alto flutes, and bass flutes, performed by Petr Kotik, Susan Stenger, and Eberhard Blum." --Phill Niblock.

1993 release. “Music by Phill Niblock features The Soldier String Quartet performing in Five More String Quartets, a piece for five multi-tracked string quartets and in Early Winter for flute, bass flute, string quartet, and synthesizer, also featuring Susan Stenger (flute) and Eberhard Blum (bass flute). In Five More String Quartets the musicians are tuned to specific pitches by calibrated sine tones as they play and the sound they produce is recorded, unprocessed, to multitrack tape. The piece is built up by means of multitrack recording. Early Winter has a different structure: a mixing of recorded instruments, computer controlled electronic instruments, and live instruments in the studio.” - XI.

"YPGPN (Young Persons Guide to Phill Niblock) is the long-awaited re-release of a two-CD set that was a joint production by the UK-based Blast First label and The Wire magazine in 1995. It includes the following works: Held Tones (1982-94) Barbara Held, flute; Didjeridoos and Donts (1992) Ulrich Krieger, didjeridu; Ten Auras (1994) Ulrich Krieger, tenor saxophone; Ten Auras Live (1994) Ulrich Krieger, tenor saxophone; A Trombone Piece (1978-94) James Fulkerson, trombone; A Third Trombone (1979-94) Jon English, trombone; Unmentionable Piece for Trombone and Sousaphone (1982-94) George Lewis, trombone and sousaphone. Phill Niblock and his music have been with us now for quite some time. In 1972 he guided an audience that had come to the New York venue the Kitchen for a concert of his compositions, to his loft... Now, some thirty years later, Niblocks work continues to draw new audiences. What is extraordinary about this is that the principles of his music have not changed much over the years; that with the long timespan covered by each piece and the sparseness of the musical material and its elaboration, one could be forgiven to think that it is at odds with contemporary hasty tastes. In fact, just because of that, it has the power to draw attention to itself. The apparently immobile string of tones that is basic to his compositions has a singular mesmerizing quality." --Rene van Peer.